Ecosystem Farm is a no-spray strawberry u-pick farm in South Atlanta. The financing to purchase our farm properties has fallen through, and we're asking for your help.
Last year, we unexpectedly lost our lease on 7 acres of land in East Atlanta. We moved temporarily to Loganville before landing in our current space in South Atlanta. We cleared an acre of kudzu jungle, removed over 100 yards of trash from the property, put in fencing, added infrastructure and built new beds with 1000+ yards of compost and wood chips.
The first plan was to purchase property with the proceeds from this year's strawberry harvest. Except we lost the harvest to a combination of low temperatures, deer and hail.
The next plan was to get financing through the FSA, a government program that specifically serves farms who can't get funding through normal channels. After working with the loan officer, completing hundreds of pages of forms and going under contract on three properties, we were told to come back next year with better credit.
Now we're stuck. So we're coming to you, our community. You've stood by us during our exodus from East Atlanta, supported us when we ran a crowd funded loan to put in infrastructure last year, and made our phone ring off the hook wanting to come pick strawberries this year.
We're under contract for three properties. The first is the most important; it's where all our infrastructure and strawberry plants are living.
We need to raise $25,000 by November 30th to close on this property. (We may have someone willing to purchase it for us.)
The second parcel is almost as important. It's owned by Habitat for Humanity Atlanta, and you all were instrumental in getting us in the door with them to get this property under contract. This parcel is where we plan to add vegetable production, which will provide year round income and buffer us against failure if we have a bad season with any particular crop. It also connects to a parcel which we can lease long term and eventually purchase.
We need to raise $20,000 by December 31st to close on this adjacent parcel. This is now the focus of our campaign!
The third parcel we're under contract for is a bigger lift. It's across the street from our main strawberry field, and it's the key to our long term growth. It's the only logical place to put parking, event space, a commercial kitchen, a permanent farm store and housing, because it's the only one of all the parcels that falls outside the 500 year flood plain. Will we survive as a business without it? Yes, but our capacity will always be limited, especially for u-pick. Not having space for more than a few cars to park requires a different business model. And while things like a permanent farm store and a commercial kitchen aren't essential for our business, they are extremely important for our larger community. We're located in a food desert, with neighbors who deserve a chance at a living wage and a farm community in Atlanta that lacks an easy way to turn surplus crops into anything other than compost. There is a need for these spaces, and we have an opportunity to provide them in this space.
We need to raise $80,000 by January 31st to close on this final parcel.
We want to grow food for you to eat, fruit for you to pick, jobs for you to attain dignity and space for you to turn your ideas and raw materials into value for the entire community. Our goal is to build a farm and business that everyone in Atlanta can be proud of. The land is our foundation. Please help us secure our foundation.
